First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) Stock Price Passes Above 200-Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ:FRME)’s stock price passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $38.42 and traded as high as $40.72. First Merchants shares last traded at $40.44, with a volume of 381,806 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FRME has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised First Merchants from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on First Merchants from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, First Merchants currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.33.

First Merchants Price Performance

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.42. The company has a market cap of $2.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.89 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

First Merchants (NASDAQ:FRME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $163.53 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $201.91 million. First Merchants had a return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 18.87%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.00 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that First Merchants Corporation will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Merchants Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 6th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. First Merchants’s payout ratio is 42.35%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other First Merchants news, VP Larry W. Myers sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.50, for a total transaction of $207,500.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 109,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,543,876.50. The trade was a 4.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Eva D. Scurlock sold 3,227 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.29, for a total value of $136,469.83. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 20,063 shares in the company, valued at $848,464.27. This trade represents a 13.86% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 1.77% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Merchants

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FRME. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in First Merchants by 361.7% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 771 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 604 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in First Merchants by 325.7% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 796 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 609 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in First Merchants by 62.1% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 987 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 378 shares during the period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new stake in First Merchants in the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its position in First Merchants by 68.9% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,042 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 425 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.92% of the company’s stock.

About First Merchants

First Merchants Corporation, through its subsidiary First Merchants Bank, offers a comprehensive suite of banking and financial services to individuals, businesses and public sector clients. The company’s core business activities include retail and commercial banking, lending, treasury and cash management, and wealth advisory services. With a focus on relationship banking, First Merchants seeks to deliver tailored solutions for deposit accounts, loan financing and other credit products.

On the consumer side, First Merchants provides checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, personal and mortgage loans, and electronic banking conveniences.